Skip to main content

Review of Flash Festival: Allure Theatre Company - The Elephant In The Room at the Looking Glass Theatre

The poor old elephant in the room, that little object sitting upon a "small" box had to endure such activity around him. Did he tumble where all chaos surround him, did he heck!

Allure Theatre's production from the wonderful trio of Hannah Mitchell, Julia-Louise Nolan and Jack Smith particular elephant is obsessions, be they of the stalking variety, pop fandom or OCD. Or OCD, pop fandom and stalking to put them in alphabetical order. For the best part they told the trials of these obsessions in a comedic lighthearted way, with more than an element of clowning. So we had obsessive kissing departures from Hannah and Julia-Louise, we had stalking of his cake prey from Jack (the cake is a lie) and we had a loving relationship between Hannah and Jack, well Hannah anyway.

Our set consisted of a large number of boxes, small, medium and large which were used in numerous ways throughout the busy, very quick scene changing show and also offered us the hysterical moment of Jack trying to fit into a small size.

Another magic moment was the super gurning slow motion fight as two Harry Styles obsessives battled it out, just brilliant. This scene returned later, with Jack once again donning the Styles mask, but this time with a gut punching moment. With so much having been lighthearted before and generally jovial, the switch to #cutforharry was a body blow of a scene, with the spirals of blood released via a ribbon from the wrists of Hannah and Julia-Louise. An incredibly powerful, and oh so brilliant moment.

There is also more tough stuff before we see the end as Jack confronts his stalker in another powerful scene. This is the light and shade that was mentioned in another review and much could be learnt from this particular group.

Also of high praise for this group is the obvious research, preparation and rehearsal. It can be seen throughout on the stage in front of us. The fights, the choreography, the shear punch of the movement scenes have been rehearsed to the extreme to make them clean and perfect. Time and effort pays off and will reward all three of these performers down the line I am sure. Tech consisted mostly of lighting and this was perfect as well, so huge credit on this and indeed whoever was working on it behind the scenes. My aloe vera has never glowed in the dark, so it must indeed be magic.

So a show of tremendous things, short snappy scenes with humour and sadness and some beautiful moments. One of the best so far for me this week.


The Flash Festival 2015 runs between 18th-23rd May, 2015 at four venues across the town. Details can be found at http://ftfevents.wix.com/flashtheatre2015, while tickets can be booked via the Royal & Derngate. Details at: http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whatson/2015-2016/Other/FlashFestival15

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Sunny Afternoon at Milton Keynes Theatre

Sunny Afternoon , the Kinks-inspired jukebox musical, debuted on stage in 2014. Featuring Ray Davies' music and a book by Joe Penhall, it first found success in London before a UK tour in 2016/17. Now arriving at Milton Keynes Theatre with a new 2025/6 tour, the question remains: with some songs now over 60 years old, is Sunny Afternoon still relevant to today's audiences? While this is a jukebox musical, this show follows, via this system, the story of the formation and eventual success of The Kinks rather than creating a random story from the songs. Opening with the band The Ravens, the group is safe and sophisticated, with their prim-and-proper lead singer. However, the true band of the future, Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Mick Avory and Pete Quaife, are itching for freedom, to break away, especially writer Ray, who wants to create songs that mean something to people. Enter the suits of management, and the rocky creation of The Kinks begins. I had the pleasure of seeing Sunny A...

Review of Dear Evan Hansen at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

First performed in 2015, Dear Evan Hansen remains the musical of the modern teen's life, showcasing all the troubles in that generation of popularity and social media. And as this long UK tour of the West End and before that Broadway smash hits the Royal & Derngate, it offers a troubling mirror on modern society. Before seeing this show, I had avoided all knowledge of the story Dear Evan Hansen tells, and with that came a joyful voyage of discovery as the captivating story evolved. Therefore, if you have also managed to avoid the story, skip the next paragraph and enjoy a new story to be found. Evan Hansen is a troubled teen who struggles to fit into society and cannot find friends. As a result, his therapist has suggested that he write letters to himself, "Dear Evan Hansen." When one of these letters is found on the body of an equally troubled teen, Evan finds himself spiralling into a world of fictitious friendship, which gets increasingly out of control. The stor...

My review of Jesus Christ Superstar (2000 Stage Version), My Living Room

Regular readers (I keep apologising, but you will keep reading) may remember that a short time ago I got into minor shenanigans on Twitter over my review of the currently touring version of Jesus Christ Superstar. In my review I explained that it was my first time seeing the show and that I was far from impressed by the whole thing. I even described it as "noise". Well my certain friends on Twitter thought I was unqualified to write a critique of the show as I had little (well no experience, but don't tell them) and condemned me for writing such a review that might bring down the establishment (or maybe slightly less severe, but I like to build my role). So, on the most suitable of days, Easter Day, I sat down and gave Jesus Christ Superstar another chance with the 2000 filmed version on super deluxe BLU-RAY. It was an epiphany indeed. Like the touring version, Jesus was played by (a much younger) Glenn Carter, very much the age perhaps that we recognise Jesus to be...